Since 2007, I have been a follower of yours and have so far bagged 2 great lease deals over time (2007 VW Beetle Conv. and 2011 BMW X5 Diesel). You Rock! I am back again in the market, this time for a 2013 Chevrolet Volt, with an MSRP of 44,945. I am in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The best price I got is $4,588 dealer rebate + $5,020 factory rebate + $1,000 lease conquest rebate (since I still have the BMW lease) for a selling price of $34,337. The residual is 56% on a 10K/36 lease and the rate is 0.85%. That's a good sized cut (2014s are here in only 2 weeks and they are $5K cheaper, some dealers are sitting on huge 2013 inventories). The lease factors match with what you said on your latest post on this subject. All good.

But another dealer is offering a 59% residual (but less rebate on a different, but close enough configuration) and told me that the residual is actually 42% + $7,500 federal rebate (which works out to 59% for that particular car) which means the lower the MSRP is, the higher the effective residual will be. That makes sense.

Yet another dealer, who also told me the same 42% + $7,500 story about residuals gave me a quote with a residual value of close to 56% for an MSRP of $45,605. When questioned, he told me that there was a 'cap' of $43,800 on how much they could 'residualize' and that anything over that I had to pay out of pocket and that's what brings the effective residual down. It doesn't sound very clear (the numbers he gave me did not really add up to that explanation) and I haven't been able to cross check this.

Would you please share your thoughts on this? From what you told me 6 years back on this forum, 'Residual values are essentially set in stone and dealers really do not have the ability to alter them'.

I have one dealer website here advertising $26,772 residual on a $43,950 MSRP on a 10K/36. That is 44% of $43,800 plus $7,500. So may be residual value dropped by 1% since #275 was posted?! Could be.

But on the $44,945 car that I looked at, the effective residual percentage should then be $27,210 / $44,945 = 60.5%. So why the 56% or the 59% that I have been hearing? Looks like the heavier dealer discount is coming at the expense of lowering the residual. Bad dealers! :-)

This is what you are missing: The dealer who is offering a $4,500 dealer rebate (which brings the negotiated price to $34,337) uses a residual of 56%. The dealer who uses a residual of 42% + $7,500 (for an effective residual of close to 59%) gives only a $3,000 dealer rebate. So either way, the payments are in the upper 200's... :-) This is why I wanted to know the truth about residual on the Volt.

$2,499 drive off includes about $400 of cap reduction, about $700 of taxes (they tax the $5020 GM rebate, and it still looks high to me. Sales tax rate here is 8.75%. Does anyone know if this is how it should be?), about $400 DMV fees, about $600 lease acquisition fee, about $300 first month payment and about $100 documentation fee.

Pulled the trigger on Sunday. Got a slightly better deal (with a some what different deal structure) from the dealer close to my home for an identical car (but with a dealer added $60 cargo net). I think the deal is one of the best I have seen so far.

California is processing my application for $1,500 rebate and an HOV sticker. So that will bring my effective payment down to $218/month. That's like $199/month + tax on a $45K car! Or $239 + tax with only $1,299 total due at signing (of which $650 would still be California sales tax. Talk about chasing your own tail. Lol!). Not bad whichever way you look at it!

I have been thrilled at how this car drives. This is a fun car. It doesn't drive, it wafts! I'll save my electric rants for a different forum. But I'll just say this car is American ingenuity at work! At this price, its a no brainer!

Explanation:The formula for Volt's residual is still a mystery (looks like 43.15% of $43,800 residual cap + $7500, or 58.66% of MSRP. Both look odd) and the finance charge seems pretty high at over 2% (I have top tier credit score). So some of that jack up might have paid for the $5K plus dealer discount.

But in any case this is the lowest total cost I could find after working with 4 dealers in the area and the selling price is $1,813 lower than truecar.com's best price, which is already much lower than invoice and deep in dealer holdback/incentive territory. So even if they hid $1,800 in there (for this I have to factor in the best case residual of 45% of $43,800 + 7500 = $27,210 which was reported for US Bank and the best case rate of 0.85% which was reported for Ally, even though getting the best of both together is an impossibility), I am still ahead. Also, dealers got to make their money too... lol!

I am in the southbay. I bought mine from Courtesy Chevrolet at Steven's Creek. I found from Google local car inventory that they had the car I wanted, walked in with the VIN number, and just gave them a detailed breakdown of the lease deal I was looking for. After a few back and forth, they came up with the lease structure I posted in my previous message to match my bottom line. Deal was done!

I had talked to Fremont Chevrolet, Capitol Chevrolet and Boardwalk Chevrolet during the previous week and had also worked out truecar.com prices. Fremont Chevrolet came close and were nice to talk to. Capitol Chevrolet in San Jose was the toughest to deal with, playing the old tricks. No wonder they have over 100 2013 Volts just rotting on their lot.

I am loving your enthusiasm about your recent vehicle purchase! I am happy you have been thrilled about how well your Chevy Volt drives. The deal you got is definitely a great one! We appreciate your positive feedback on the vehicle. Continue to enjoy driving it around. If you ever have concerns or questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We can be contacted by email at socialmedia(at)gm.com.

Hi, I'm trying to decide between purchasing or leasing. I see posts about the federal and state tax rebates, how are people claiming these when leasing? Dealers I have talked to says the rebates go to the leasing company.Thanks for any input on this

I am living in socal area and I am in market for a new lease of 2013 Chevy Volt car. I came across a lease offer from Harbor Chevrolet for $159 per month pls tax. Here is the fine print from their website:

"5 AT THIS PAYMENT 36 Months Closed End Lease On Above Average Approved Credit. With $2,350.00 Customer Cash or Trade plus $5,020.00 Factory Rebate, $1,000.00 Lease Conquest Rebate*, and $500 Labor Day Bonus Cash, $8,870.00 Total Due at Lease Signing, assuming all rebates apply. $Ø Security Deposit Required. Plus 1st Payment, Tax and License. 10 K Miles Per Year. 25¢ Per Excess Mile. *Must be currently leasing a non-GM vehicle 1999 or newer. Not all rebates may apply."

2 weeks ago the same offer was valid for $129 per month plus tax. They also had another offer with $199 per month plus tax for $0 down. This Lease is for the base model with a MSRP of $39,900. I do not have any current lease, so I will not qualify for $1,000 Lease Conquest rebate. The residual value would be about $25,200.

I would like to lease a higher model volt with navigation, safety package#1 and 2. I was wondering what would be the appropriate price to pay for a chevy volt lease with a MSRP of $45,000 with 36 months term and 12K yearly miles? How much would be the taxes approximately on top of the monthly lease payment in LA area?

Most people will advise against a lease with that much money up front. At most I would put down what {apudiyap} did. He got a great deal you should try to replicate - I believe with the exact configuration you're looking for.

This is in NJ not far from NYC, and I guess this area tends to be a little more expensive than most places in the US. It's also easily the highest rated dealership in the area, which makes me feel better dealing with them. So far, via email, they've been very professional and responsive.

Here's the deal: A Premium Volt (leather, navigation, rearview camera, bells & whistles) with a MSRP of $43,950, an invoice of $42,881, discounted to $41,299. This, minus the $5,020 rebate and $500 Labor Day cash. So, total discounts amount to $8k+ off of MSRP.

Residual is 39%. Money factor is .00055 (US Bank).

36 months, 15k miles/year, $0 down, tax (%6.25 for MA, moving there soon) and fees (except the $395 disposition charge) included in the monthly payment of $427. So, first month is due at signing, and nothing else. They of course started higher and this was reached after some negotiation.

I was wary of is the low residual of 39%, given the 46% resale value at the top of KBB's list for 2013. Also, I know that it's US Bank that gets the $7.5k tax credit, but I was under the impression that this should somehow contribute to my bottom line.